Turning from Frustration, because It IS Finished!

This "Easter Sunday" I am doing all I can to not SIT in my frustration. Hopefully writing will help me move from the frustration I'm sitting in right now.  My frustration is with myself, with others, with the brokenness of the world.   Today in particular, I am frustrated with the institutional church as it is today and as it was thousands of years ago.  This "church" refuses to be separate from the world and instead tries to mix and mold its faith into the worldly traditions around them.  We can just look around at "Easter" and see all the *mess* and confusion that occurs when that mixing happens.   Ask any 6 year old christian what Easter is about and the hodgepodge of confusion that comes out and the variance of answers across the spectrum of families is great enough evidence!

With the refusal to be separate, "Christians" continually set themselves up against the world in a fight.  Which (in my opinion) is the last place God would have us be - *especially* over things that we shouldn't even be clinging to!  The particular tradition that says Easter is a "christian holiday" makes it appear that the world is stealing from the church or trying to taint the church by 'celebrating' the pagan celebration of Easter and enjoying baby chicks, bunnies and all things spring.

But the truth is, I'm with the world on this one!!   I hope the world snatches Easter out of the Institutional church's hands and runs so far away that the true Church could never be associated with it again!    I would be SO excited for that - so that we could get back to the business of ENJOYING and worshipping the Lord with our lives! I would love if EVERY Sunday morning when the sun rises, we remember that 1st Sunday when Jesus' followers saw Him in His victory over death - and celebrate how EXCITING that must have been for them!!  That's probably why the early Church started gathering every Sunday morning, no!?  How could they NOT want to be around each other and celebrate & remember!?

We should be *excited* EVERY SUNDAY because He is ALIVE and we have direct access to GOD, the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!  and we are going to live FOREVER and don't even have to fear death and the end of our life is just the beginning!! And Jesus is ALIVE in me and in you and there's so much more...and there is hope and healing and redemption and LOVE!!

but there's so many distractions.... and I am guilty as anybody at getting distracted....

Honestly, it seems to me that "Easter" looking more and more similar to the pagan holiday it started as - is a great sign that God is putting everything back where it belongs and is truly calling out His true Church! I pray He continues to use all the people and circumstances around His Church as a fire to refine us and burn away all that is not focused on Him and burn ALL away.

OHHHH I can not WAIT until all that is left is JESUS.

• I can not wait until I see His face as He is looking at His bride.  The bride that He went through excruciating agony beyond comprehension for.  Can you imagine looking at His eyes so full of pure LOVE for His people!?   
• I can not wait to see Him basking in His glory & the praises of His people and His face that just exudes, "it was worth it".  I'm so excited for Him! 
• I can not wait until ALL traditions that are not God-glorifying and Spirit-lead are just GONE and it just all makes perfect yet incomprehensible sense that Christ is all and that is all!  
• I can not wait until everything in ME that is not God glorifying & Spirit lead is wiped away as quickly as He will wipe away every tear and disappointment & frustration! 
• I can not wait until I can seriously seriously seriously just praise God in excitement, in humility, in adoration, in joy, in complete surrender and I am no longer getting in my own way or inhibited by anything. 
• I can't wait until His work in me is complete! 
• I can not wait until my emotions are perfectly lined up under Christ's Lordship and I can dance for Him and sing to Him and be excited out of pure Christ-focused fullness and not hold back and wonder if I'm leaning too much on my emotions?  and am I under His control?  and how come we can't *always* feel like this and why oftentimes is there no feelings!?  I believe someday there will be feelings of love and joy all the time!!! and it will be pure and true and real and Christ-centered!     
• OHHH I can't wait for the celebrations we are going to have when everything is no longer broken and everything finds its proper place under Him.  
• I can't wait for all the strains in all the relationships we have on earth to be completely vanished and we are so captivated by the Lord's glory and consumed with Him that there is nothing but Him and there is nothing in between us.  We can simply hold each other's hands and praise Him together and just talk about Him all the time and enjoy Him together! 

I CAN.NOT.WAIT.
but I have to :)

So on I journey... doing all I can to surrender to Him and allow Him to mold me as I grow closer to Him daily.  I enjoy so much the little glimmers of HIS LIFE in me and the healing and joy and thankfulness and trust and reconciliation and love that we get to experience here....and the hope that the little glimmers give to me are worth not sitting in my frustration.

I can move from my frustration because I know deep in my heart Christ IS all.  He is risen.  My Spirit knows that this realm isn't all there is!  We are healed.  We are in Him.  His Church is built up.  We are raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6)

We are here on earth for such a short time - but it's for a purpose. We each have our part in this beautiful mystery unfolding in our earth time.  Surrendering to Him so He can live through us IS our part.

While we are here, God is going to work in us and work through us.  His work in us will be complete and the good works He prepared us for will be finished!  We can accept the brokenness in ourselves and others and in the world and continue on because we know He is sovereign and what He is doing is worth all the wait.

And we don't have to be frustrated... because we can choose to believe that even while He is finishing all the unfolding...

It is FINISHED.

For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy
Hebrews 10:14